


Caught Up

by rapgodyoungjae



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band), TWICE (Band)
Genre: Crack, F/M, crackship, idolverse, seventwice, svtwice, twiceteen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-17 23:44:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7290916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rapgodyoungjae/pseuds/rapgodyoungjae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Nayeon thinks she knows what she wants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 20

Nayeon is smack-dab in the middle of practicing her high notes backstage when he enters the room.

Accented Korean catches her attention, and she sees Jun and Minghao saying hi to Tzuyu, along with a few of Seventeen’s other members. Jihyo and Chaeyoung both move to greet the other members, and through the crowd her focus is lasered onto a boy with auburn hair.

He’s bowing and smiling at Tzuyu, and Nayeon bows towards them all and then forces herself to break her attention from them because he makes her breath catch in a dangerous way, so she buries her focus back into her sheet music, practicing her parts.

“Nayeon-unnie!” Jihyo pulls her by the arm, breaking Nayeon’s concentration yet again. “Come meet Seventeen-sunbaenims. Jungyeon, you too!”

Nayeon has met a few of the members previously, but the sheer volume of all thirteen of them in total is overwhelming. She’s meeting boys with large eyes and wide smiles, until she is bowing and shaking hands with _him_.

“ _Annyeonghaseyo,_ ” he bows to her, words plateauing at the end in a dead-giveaway American accent. “I’m Joshua.”

“I’m Nayeon,” she responds, blushing wildly and hoping that her makeup is enough to cover it. She’s reached the end of the line now, no more members to greet, and she seems to realize it at the same moment that he does.

“How old are you?” Nayeon asks, mindful of her speech.

“Born in ’95. And you?”

“Same,” Nayeon grins, lighting up. He smiles too, his wide eyes pressing into crescents. Gosh, he is beautiful, she thinks.

“Who’s this, Jisoo-yah?” A boy with long, silvery hair links his arm with Joshua’s, looking Nayeon up and down. If he were a girl Nayeon would think him rather pretty, with his perfect bone structure and straight white teeth.

“This is Nayeon. She’s the same age as us,” Joshua replies. “Nayeon, this is Jeonghan.”

They both bow, exchanging greetings.

“I’m sorry, but… Jisoo?” Nayeon directs her speech to Joshua, who laughs softly. Everything about him seems gentle, from his voice to his mannerisms and the way a kindness seems to emanate from him.

“It’s my Korean name. Joshua is my stage name, but I grew up in the US and went by Joshua since I was a kid, so I’m used to it.”

A boy with huge eyes and dark hair squishes in next to Jeonghan. Jeez, these boys are touchy, Nayeon thinks.

“And who could forget our leader!” Joshua says, clapping hands and chest bumping with the new arrival. “Nayeon, this is Seungcheol.”

“S.Coups,” he bows to her, and Nayeon bows back. 

“Look at this, we’re all the same age,” Jeonghan says, gesturing back and forth between them, and Nayeon smiles graciously.

“So we should all be friends, I expect?” Seungcheol says. They all nod in agreement and Nayeon has to refrain from laughing at how much the boys all look like bobbleheads.

“So you’re the oldest, but isn’t Jihyo the leader…?” Jeonghan inquires. Nayeon gets the feeling that he’s not one to shy away from provocative subjects.

“She is. I’m the oldest, but Jihyo-yah trained for the longest.” Nayeon replies, chagrined at the topic. The number of times she’s had to and will continue to have to explain this is reaching the point of annoyance.

“Our Seungcheol-ah is both,” Jeonghan volunteers, nudging Seungcheol forward. The way Seungcheol is looking at her, so transfixed with his wide eyes, is unnerving.

“You said you were from the US?” Nayeon diverts the topic back to Joshua. Seungcheol’s expression falters the tiniest bit when she does. She knows that the time they’ll spend in one another’s proximity is ticking down, and she can kick herself later for being less-than-subtle. At least she tried. Nayeon is nothing if not ambitious. 

“Yes, I came to Korea when I was 18,” Joshua responds.

Nayeon realizes she is asking him basic interview questions and scrambles for something interesting or original, but suddenly the boys’ manager is herding them out of the room.

“Nice to meet you, Nayeon,” Joshua says, and Jeonghan and Seungcheol echo the sentiment.

“We’ll see you around,” Seungcheol says, waving goodbye as they leave the room. Nayeon waves with a half-smile after them. She definitely hopes that they will.

 

Nayeon picks up her phone every minute for 15 consecutive minutes, pressing the button to light up the screen _just in case_ she missed a message.

She’s been waiting at the café for Joshua, Jeonghan and Seungcheol to show up. They’re same-aged friends so Nayeon invited them all, but she’s got an agenda for today, for sure.

She jumps every time the bell tinkles at the door, slumping back in disappointment with each new customer. She swirls her straw in her Americano impatiently. Of course they’re late.

 

“Nayeon-ah!” they greet her like a wave. Somehow only three of them feels like so few after seeing the whole group.

They move to order and Nayeon not so subtly whines that _they just got here_ and _they’re late_ and so _they shouldn’t leave her alone,_ and so Joshua sits with her while the others order for him, and she can barely suppress her elation.

__“Oh, here,” he takes off his coat and drapes it over her bare legs. Nayeon feels frozen up, like she can barely move at the gesture, at his proximity, and the concerned look he fixes on her as he adjusts the jacket on her legs._ _

__“Thanks,” she says barely above a whisper, her attention still fixed on him for a beat too long when Jeonghan and Seungcheol return. She drags her eyes away because she abhors others knowing her intentions before she’s ready to reveal them._ _

__

__Seungcheol’s the only one who shows up on the trail that Nayeon invited the lot of them to for a hike. He pulls her into a hug, which she returns stiffly._ _

__Joshua and Jeonghan are in vocal practice, but Seungcheol’s available, and so she shows up because she did invite him, after all. Never mind that it was all a ruse to see Joshua. Never mind that Seungcheol still makes her uncomfortable._ _

__Seungcheol and Nayeon ascend the trail in a quietness punctuated by Seungcheol’s stories of what he’s done the last few weeks, and Nayeon hums along, making noises of understanding and asking the bare minimum to get him to continue._ _

__“Nayeon, why did you invite me here?” he stops on the path. She takes a few paces before she realizes that he’s stopped, turning to face him. Seungcheol has this perplexed, empty look, and if she were a better person then she’d want to fill it up. But she has to talk to too many people these days for her to be sincere to all of them, or else she’d drain herself entirely._ _

__“Sorry, Seungcheol, it’s nothing personal. My mind is just prone to wandering these days.”_ _

__He sees through her, but he knows that his disappointment is disproportional to the situation, so he stays mum._ _

__“How close are you to Joshua?” she asks after some time, but not long enough for him to know what she truly wants, and why he’s here._ _

__“We’ve known one another for 4 years, so we’re pretty close,” he responds, yanking a twig from a tree branch as they pass. Hopefully it’ll seem random and intentionless. Nayeon's too wrapped up in her own head to notice, besides. “Why does it matter to you?” His words have a hint of prickle to them. That, she does notice._ _

__Nayeon looks away to hide her grimace._ _

__“I just wondered. Nothing much.” She replies evasively, kicking a pinecone as they walk up the trail._ _

__“You interested in him, Nayeon-ah?” he asks._ _

__“Don’t say crazy things, Seungcheol,” she replies sharply—too defensively, Seungcheol thinks—her eyes fixed on the woods before them. “I can’t be.”_ _

__

__“Hello~,” she sing-songs, pushing open the door to their waiting room._ _

__Many boys greet her, with _'Nayeon-ah!'_ and _'Nayeon-noona, how are you?'_ _ _

__She responds politely, delicately, until she hears what she’s been hoping for. What she’d come here to receive._ _

__“Hi, Nayeon,” he says, hair falling into his eyes, which are wide and crinkling like always._ _

__“Hi Joshua,” she replies, her voice as much stronger than a breathy whisper as she can manage, which isn’t much._ _

__“It’s been too long,” he says, rubbing her shoulder with a little smile spread across his face. She feels replete, like her mission for coming here was requited, while in the back of her mind realizing how pathetic that must be._ _

__“You’ve got something here,” Joshua says, removing a tiny scrap of paper from her hair; while he touches her the proximity steals Nayeon’s breath._ _

__“Nayeon-ah!”_ _

__More arms are around her. Seungcheol and Jeonghan. She hopes she hadn’t been too obvious last time. She wills even stronger that Seungcheol hasn’t said anything. She doesn’t know if she could trust him and yet she had, but the uncomplicated way that Joshua and Jeonghan are grinning at her makes her think Seungcheol hasn’t compromised that._ _


	2. Must Be Crazy

Nayeon and Joshua meet up for dinner, at her behest. She’s jittery the whole time, talking herself into and then back out of what she’s about to do ad nauseum. She steels herself and reminds herself that Im Nayeon is intimidated by nothing and no one. She has nothing to lose here.

After mustering up an insane amount of courage, she confesses. She’s greeted with more surprise and less happiness than she’d wished for.

“I just… I see you as a friend, Nayeon-ah. It’s really sweet and I’m flattered, but I don’t think I’m the right person to be that for you.” 

He’s breaking her heart but why does he have to look so beautiful in his wavering, unintentional cruelty?

“Oh, yeah, totally. That’s fine. It’s fine.” She says, like repeating it enough will make it true.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you—” He apologizes. He always apologizes. He’s too nice and normally that makes her want to draw closer but it’s too painful right now. If only he were a jerk, then she could hate him.

“Oh no, you didn’t. It’s fine. Jisoo-yah, you made me realize: what was I thinking? It’s not good timing anyway. We should focus on our careers right now, anyway. Silly me.”

“Let’s not let this change things between us,” he says.

“We’re all good,” she replies.

They both repeat both statements like mantras, in different permutations until there’s an awkward silence. Saying and doing shouldn’t be so far removed from one another, Nayeon thinks.

Jisoo leaves not long after. They say that things haven’t changed between them and that they’re all good but it’s all empty platitudes; they both know that it’s not so simple and uncomplicated. The dull ache in her chest serves as a constant reminder that things can’t be the same, because it was all predicated on the fact that she was hiding the way that she actually felt.

 

In her blinding frustration and distress Nayeon picks up her phone and calls the only person who she thinks can understand what she’s going through right now, fully. The only person who she thinks can soothe her bruised ego and shattered heart.

She tries not to let her voice waver when she speaks, and succeeds only about halfway.

“Seungcheol-ah, are you busy?”

 

Nayeon uses a mask and a lot of concealer to look something approaching normal to meet him at a Norebang. His recommendation. Places where they can have real privacy are far and few. 

They don’t sing at first. She just starts crying again when he walks in the room, having kept it together for longer than she thought she would already. He just holds her, which is closer than she’s ever been to him, but it feels like just about the only thing that’ll make her feel any better right now. Her tears soak through his shirt and her fingers curl into the already-abused fabric; Seungcheol’s glad he hadn’t dressed up at all tonight but thinks he wouldn’t mind her doing so even if he had.

Nayeon rests her head against his chest and finally speaks after crying to the point of exhaustion.

“I’m sure you know why I’m upset,” she says miserably.

“I do,” he replies, fingers weaving through her hair. She buries her face back into his chest, sighing dramatically.

“Jisoo told you,” she replies matter-of-factly, voice reverberating through him.

“Actually, no,” he says, and Nayeon sits back in question. Her face is puffy beyond compare and he swallows a laugh at her expense.

_“Wae?”_

“Nayeon, you’re like, the opposite of subtle,” he replies curtly, and Nayeon smacks him warningly on the shoulder.

“You’re supposed to be making me feel better,” she says sharply. She knows she shouldn’t be mean to him, since he did come here to comfort her, but she’s emotionally drained and her patience has been worn paper thin.

“I never said it was a bad thing.”

 

He forces her to sing a song with him, playing it before she can protest.

“You have to sing, Nayeon. This song was made for you.”

By the end of Fantastic Baby, she is shaking her hair and her body like her worries have evaporated. They do, for a fleeting moment. 

 

“I’m sorry for being a shitty friend.” She apologizes after they’ve exhausted themselves, both of them slumping back on the plastickey material of the booths.

“It’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up too much,” he replies, a smile tugging at his mouth.

“You’re supposed to tell me that I’m not a shitty friend,” she pouts, giving him her worst expression.

Seungcheol is many things, but a liar he is not.

 

Nayeon’s picture lights up on his phone as it rings. Hoshi gently teases him for it and his lips curl up at the corners but he ignores it otherwise.

“Nayeon-ah, who calls people these days?” He asks snarkily upon answering.

“Don’t be like that, Seungcheol-ah,” she huffs over the line.

“Okay, okay, sorry,” he backs down. “What’s up?”

“Are you free at all this week?”

 

Nayeon wants to get her tarot read, but is too much of a wimp to go alone. Seungcheol meets her in front of a chicken restaurant halfway between their dorms, the smell beckoning him and making him wish Nayeon would eat some with him, though she’s perpetually on a diet, or something equally oppressive.

They enter the shop through a curtain of beads. There’s so much ornate decoration that Seungcheol can’t identify the tarot reader for a moment.

He holds the beads aside for Nayeon, who wavers on the threshold.

“What are you so scared of?” He asks in amusement, tugging her inside by the wrist.

Knowing Nayeon, it’s probably something to do with being out of control.

 

Nayeon meets Seungcheol for coffee the day after his last concert in Seoul. It’s been a while since they last saw one another. Half an hour into their conversation his phone rings, an unknown number.

“Just answer it,” she says, gesturing towards his phone with her coffee.

So Seungcheol takes the call, and his expression drops the longer he listens.

“Seungcheol-ah?” Naeyon queries, but her words don’t seem to register.

“What do you mean, he's in the hospital? What happened? He’s—?” Silence. Seungcheol is looking at Nayeon, mouth agape for hanging on his last unsaid word, but she can tell that he’s looking past her, through her. “Where? I’m leaving right now.”

The urgency in his voice is unnerving.

“It’s my brother.” He says to Nayeon. “I have to go. I have to—I…” he stands swiftly, his chair teetering behind him.

“Let’s go,” Nayeon says, standing too.

“You don’t have to come, Nayeon-ah,” he says, flustered, his manners mixing with his panic.

“You don’t want me to?” She asks.

“You shouldn’t feel like you have to,” he says, but Nayeon is already leading him towards the door.

“I’m not going anywhere, Seungcheol-ah.”

Physically, yes she is. But leaving him? Not a chance.

 

They hail a cab and Seungcheol gives the destination; his voice is steel.

It’s frightening to Nayeon to see Seungcheol so fragile. He looks like a scared child and he doesn’t say _anything_ on the ride over. The Seungcheol that Nayeon knows is brighter than the sun and never shuts up, so she doesn’t know what to do for him other than to let him squeeze her hand as he stares off, gaze unfocused and mind a million miles away from her.

 

They wait outside of surgery, in the ugly cracked maroon pleather seats of the waiting room.

“He came to visit me.” Seungcheol says, the first words he’s uttered in the last 2 hours other than asking the receptionist where his brother is.

“Don’t you dare even _start_ blaming yourself, Seungcheol. He could’ve been anywhere doing anything and this could’ve happened. It’s not your fault. It’s not his fault. It’s the drivers fault. Stop it. Stop thinking that it’s your fault.” Nayeon says harshly. She thinks he needs harsh right now, to drive him out of that dark hole he’s visibly burying himself in.

His buggy eyes are shiny with threatening tears but he nods obediently at her. She knows he comprehends what she’s saying but can’t find a place to fit it in his head enough to really believe it. She suspects that Seungcheol will blame himself for things that are beyond his control until the day he dies.

After a few more hours she has to leave for a schedule but she calls Jeonghan to come wait with him. She knows Seungcheol needs someone to keep him from drowning in his own thoughts, but that he isn’t one to ask for help of his own devices. He doesn’t know well enough how to be needy.


End file.
